Sealed transparent container for bottles



Dec. 24, 1935. 5 L E v2,025,470

SEALED TRANSPARENT CONTAINER FOR BOTTLES Filed March 30, 1934 attorneys.

Patented Dec. 24, 1935 UNITED- STATES 2,025,470 SEALED TRANSPARENT comma FOR or'rms Samuel C. Miller, lfoiiisv'ille, Ky., assignor to Frankfort Dismal-amusement, Louisville,

Ky., a corporation of WSt Virginia Application March so, an, Serial No. 718,293

1 Claim. (01. 229-55) The present invention relates to improvements in sealed transparent containers for bottles, and

constitutes certain improvementsv over my prior Patent No. 1,732,059, granted October 15, 1929.

In the case of the prior patent aforesaid, a sealed container for bottles of whiskey and the like was provided to assure the integrity of the contents at a time when bootlegging was rampant with the result that spurious liquor of inferior grade and age was being substituted on a large scale for the fine bottled in bond whiskies of reputable distilleries. At that time great injury and damage was being done not only to the business of the reputable distilleries, but also to the patients in hospitals and the sick and convalescent generally who were buying impure and deleterious substances under the guise and dress of the trade-marks, labels and bottles of honest manufacturers.

A similar, if not more aggravated, condition exists today, and the present invention has for its objects generally the same objects as heretofore stated in connection with my earlier patent, although it is no longer necessary to provide one or more windows in the side wall of the container as proposed in said patent. These windows were for the purpose of enabling the druggists to affix a prescription label, which was required by the regulations passed pursuant to the Volstead Act, directly to the bottle, as well as for the purpose of enabling the druggist to record the number on the revenue stamp, which record he was required to keep under the same regulations.

While those regulations no longer have the eifect of law and it is unnecessary to comply with same, so that a window can now be dispensed with, it is highly important that an attractive package be offered the purchasing pubwill be transparent as to its side wall, although' having a continuous side wall uninterrupted by openings, to reveal the shape and character of the bottle, the reading matter on the labels and revenue stamp and the attractiveness of the bottle itself, while at the same time rendering that bottle proof against tampering or substitution of its contents,whereby the purchaser is assured of the quality and integrity of the liquor contained in the bottle.

With the foregoing and other objects-in view, the invention will be-more fully. described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto.

In the drawing, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an improved 10 sealed transparent container for bottles constructed in accordance with the present invention,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 33 in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section showing the construction of attachment between head and side wall. g 20 Figure 5' is a fragmentary vertical view, with parts broken away and parts shown in section, of the top head, side wall and joint of the latter,. and Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, as in Figure 3, showing more particularly the side wall joint.

Referringmore particularly to the drawing, the bottle is designated at I, and may be of any particular form, for instance a quart bottle of demijohn general configuration adapted to contain whiskey, brandy, gin, wines and the like, in which vintage and age is of great value. The bottle is closed by a stopper, cork, or closure 15 the a of any desired character, and an internal revenue stamp, indicated at 8, is aflixed over the closure and secured to opposite sides of the bottle neck in accordance with the usual custom.

The trade-mark label is shown at 9, and if desired, a scroll or other'label l0 may be also ap- 40 plied to the bottle in any appropriate position for the purpose of indicating that the bottle contains one full quart, or one full pint, or whatever the liquid capacity of the bottle may be. On the opposite side of the bottle, the usual distillers label is afiixed showing the name of the distiller or producer, the volume, proof and such other information as it may be deemed desirable to convey to the purchaser.

The bottle I is placed within the container, which container consists of a tubular side wall II and top and bottom ends or heads l2. In the instance shown, the tubular wall I l is cylindrical to agree with the rounded quart. bottle; but

,where fiat pint bottles aroused, the wall ll may be rectangular in cross section, or of any other form desired. This wall is transparent throughout except at the joint, and is preferably made from cellophane, a well-known product on the market constructed of regenerated cellulose. Such material has advantages of toughness, clear transparency whichit maintains for a long period of time, and other features desirable in a package of this character.-

The cellophane is preferably of substantial thickness. As compared with cellophane in which products are ordinarily wrapped, such as boxes of candy, cigarette packages, etc., the cellophane used herein is of much greater thickness, so that it will have an inherent stability which will be increased by forming it into cylindrical shape.

Particularly is, this true withregard to the upper and lower edges of the tube, which are connected with the heads l2, suchheads being preferably of metal, for instance tin.

The joint between the meeting ends of the ,cellophane body H of the container is shown more particularly in Figures 3 and 6, and consists of a metallic or other flexible or elastic sheet or strip folded to provide a double channel member, in which the outer walls are represented at l3 and I4, and the inner walls at l5 and I6, while the bights or connecting parts are designated at H and 18. The inner walls l5 and I6 are connected by a yoke or connecting strip l9, which lies in contact with the inner faces of the inner walls l5 and I6 throughout the length and width of the same. The connecting strip I9 is made from an intermediate portion of the metal joint member, the inner channel walls l5 and It being folded over in opposite directions upon the outer face of the connecting strip [9, and the outer channel walls l3 and. 14 being folded over in opposite directions upon the respective inner walls l5 and I6 after the material is bent to form the two bights I I and I 8, which bights are disposed opposite to one another and in contact with one another. outer walls l3 and M are longer circumferentially of the cylindrical wall H as compared with the inner walls I5 and I6 and the connecting strip H, to the end that the extending portions of such outer walls l3 and M, which lie beyond the ends of the inner walls, encounter external portions of the cellophane wall II, which portions are unsupported on their inner sides to the end that a pinching of the cellophane material may be had .over and above the clamping effect imposed by the pair of jaws of the channel members, such pinching effect being due to the pressing of the extended ends of the outer walls I3 and I4 radially inward with respect to the are on which the walls I3 and M are struck. The cylindrical form of the heavy stiff cellophane will react against the inwardly pressed extension portions of the outer walls l3 and I4 and, thus a tight pinching action between the inner and outer walls at the open ends of the channels will result. Such joint is staunch as required by the weight of a quart bottle with its liquid contents.

The tin top and bottom heads l2 are constructed with internal flanges 20 and external flanges 2| with a connecting portion 22 therebetween and with an infolded terminal edge 23. The thick cellophane wall II is received between the flanges 20 and 2|, the connecting part 22 being preferably rounded so that the flanges 20 and 2i may approach very closely together but creating sufiicient space for the relatively thick The cellophane material, which preferably extends up and impinges at its cylindrical edge upon the rounded connecting portion 22. The marginal part i I of the tubular cellophane body will be rocked outwardly by reason of the pres- 5 sure imposed thereupon by the inturned edge 23. It will be understood that these parts are greatly enlarged in Figure 4 in order to bring out the construction, but the heads will be made of. tin of a very light gage, so that theinfolded edge 23 10 will be very small indeed and its uppermost intumed part will approach a knife edge, which while it will not ordinarily cut into the "cellophane material, nevertheless will exert a strong pressure thereagainst indenting such material or 15 producing so great a pressure thereupon that the material outwardly beyond the circumferential line of this applied pressure will tend to bend radially outward, speaking with reference to the diameter of the cylinder II. In this way the 20 heads are bound firmly to the container body making it impossible topull off the heads without multilating the body ll.

In the use of the device, the bottom head of the container may be put in place with the 25 cellophane" side wall ll erected thereon and .Joinedtogether by the joint shown in Figure 6, or

some other form of joint adapted to cellophane or like material of a character or construction -to hold the body wall H secured against being 30 pulled apart. The bottle is then placed through the open end of the body and the remaining head put in place and secured to such body in the manner indicated in Figure 4. The head may be spun on to the body by the peculiar spinning 011- as eration necessary to form the infolded part 23. Thus the metallic heads or closures l2 are'secured in permanent and fixed relation on the wall of the carton H by the spinning or other operation. The machinery necessary to accom- 4o plish this operation is large and heavy, and is ex-' pensive, being foundonly in factories in the hands of a few responsible manufacturers who f could not afford to deal with bootleggers and venders of spurious goods. For this reason, the 45 packaging of whiskey in a carton, such as described; is from a practical and commercial standpoint the highest guarantee available of the purity of its contents. The bottles are filled with whiskey at a legitimate source under proper botso tling authority, and after the closures are put in place, the revenue stamp 8 is applied. The bottle is then immediately placed in the improved container and the heads l2 sealedon the body- II. The entiredevice then becomes an article of u commerce and may be packed in cases ready for shipment to the trade where it is sold directly to the consumer while in the sealed condition within the container H. The transparent wall enables ,the prospective customer to view the bottle, the 60 trade-mark, the label, and the revenue stamp in as clear a manner as it would be possible to do so if the bottle were not encased in such a container. In fact the container H protects the bottle from dust and maintains both the bottle 65 and the labels in a clean, polished and attractive appearance avoiding discoloration and mutilation of the labels which would reduce the commercial desirability of the package as an article of commerce. Moreover, the cellophane tube II, par- 10 ticularly where it is round in form, will acquire a certain glaze which adds to the attractiveness of the display. The joints shown in Figures 4 and 6 are of such character as to make it impracticable to remove same for the purpose of getting 1| at the bottle to withdraw its genuine contents and replace same by a counterfeit. It is only possible to open the package by cutting all around the cellophane side wall I l and bending the head l2 back upon the joint strip l9 as a hinge.

The necessity for sealing whiskey arises from the fact that, without a protective seal, the ultimate consumer has no assurance of its intergrity. The more effective the seal the more certain the integrity of the whiskey. All metal seals and caps which are applied directly over the cork are capable of ready imitation and duplication. The present device cannot be readily duplicated because of its inherent construction, and the control over the machinery necessary to make this carton by responsible manufacturers adds a further guarantee that these packages and the machinery for making the same will not fall into the hands of those who would stoop to counterfeit the contents of the bottles.

Of course, instead of cellophane", mica or some other transparent material might be substituted.

It is obvious that various changes and mo'diflcations may be made in the details of'construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment 01' this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claim.

What is claimed is:

A sealed transparent container for bottles comprising a body of substantially thick, tough and resilient material shaped into tubular forms, and m end heads having internal flanges fitting within end portions of the tubular body and external flanges lying upon the exterior of such portions, said external flanges having enfolded parts with edges adapted to bite into the material of the 15 folded part of the external flange a'space 01' a g width greater than the thickness of the body through which space the terminal portion of the body may rock.

SAMUEL C. MILLER. 

